Well I don't know if he was better than LT, but yes, if he had not been injured, he would have been not just HOF level but top 5 RB all time level.

So you think LT is in the top 5 all-time?

Can you name 5 RBs that were indisputably better than LT?

Also I think he meant post-injury Edge might not have been better than LT. Pre-injury Edge was the complete package. He was Marshall Faulk, Walter Payton, and Adrian Peterson in one body.

https://youtu.be/6DW1Ku6rhQY

Pre injury edge. If this doesn’t give you a half boner then something is wrong with you

You weren’t arm tackling this dude

As an all around back of the SB era, yes

There are two pure runners, one pre-SB area and one in the SB era, that stand out just as pure running backs. Jim Brown and Barry Sanders. I never watched Jim Brown, plus it was a whole different era with less passing and pass blocking for RBs, so I don't know how good he was outside of running, or in other words catching and pass blocking. ANd Sanders was a great runner, but there were better all around back as well

IN terms of all around RBs in the SB era, you have LT, Emmitt Smith (he benefitted from a great line and great team more than the others), Marshall Faulk, Walter Payton. You can argue what order they go in, but that group stands out I think from the others.

ANd if Edge had not been injured, he would have been added to that group as well. With his injury and considering his whole career, not quite up to that level. I guess that is only 4 in that group, but then after those 4 you can go to guys like Adrian Peterson, Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, I suppose you could add Gore and Curtis Martin in there though I think Edge was better than those two

The real key with RB ratings is always going to be
1. Are you looking at all around back or just as a runner AND
2. Are you considering their peak career or overall career, those things often vary quite a bit

As an all around back at the peak of his career, pre-injury, I would agree Edge was as good as any of them.

seriously half chub.
The quick burst running inside the tackles.
north-south running one cut and he's gone.
the breakaway speed when getting to the 2nd level.
the vision.
the little stutter step to make guys miss.
the power to just bounce of tacklers and keep going.
the balance to stay up, even when it looks like he's stumbling forward, just keeps the legs churning and falls forward for an extra 10 yards.
the receiving ability.
and they don't put pass blocking into RB highlight reels, but he could surely fill up a tape with that.

Edge's real skill was his patience in letting the OL set up the blocks and his ability to pick his way this way and that through holes with ease.

Bell in pitt is the only one like him in that regard.

especially later in his career

but you look at those early years and damn that dude had some quickness.

Yep, I was watching that vid a few weeks ago.

Everything that has been said in this thread, is spot on with what great all around RB that Edge was.

I just have a hard time saying that Edge was better in his prime than LT was in his. For two reasons: TD's and YC. The TD's I guess could be a product of conservative Marty ball when near the end zone, while the Colts were more prone to pass the ball. I just give LT the slight nod.

The best RB's of Edge's era were LT, Martin, Faulk and Edge. I believe the other 3 were all 1st ballot HOF. It is a great injustice that that Edge has been nominated 3 times and still not made it.

I don't even think the voters watch video of the players, and basically go on memory and the common misconception that the Colts passing offense opened up the running game. I believe, that in Edge's 1st two season the opposite was true. The Colts didn't even have an established passing game in '99, and Edge led the league in rushing attempts that season. Sure sounds like the running game was opening up the passing game to me.

Edge was better than Curtis martin, both in pre-injury and for his career.

I don't consider Faulk of exactly the same era. Faulk's end of career overlapped with Edge's beginning, just overlapping a bit